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A binary opposition (also binary system) is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and right.〔 Binary opposition is an important concept of structuralism, which sees such distinctions as fundamental to all language and thought.〔Baldick, C 2004. The concise Oxford Dictionary of literary terms, viewed 8 March 2011, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1056-binaryopposition.html〕 In structuralism, a binary opposition is seen as a fundamental organizer of human philosophy, culture, and language. Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory.〔Fogarty, S 2005, The literary encyclopedia, viewed 6 March 2011, http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?pec=true&UID=122〕 According to Ferdinand de Saussure, the binary opposition is the means by which the units of language have value or meaning; each unit is defined in reciprocal determination with another term, as in binary code. It is not a contradictory relation but a structural, complementary one.〔 Saussure demonstrated that a sign's meaning is derived from its context (syntagmatic dimension) and the group (paradigm) to which it belongs.〔Lacey, N 2000, Narrative and Genre, p.64, Palgrave, New York.〕 An example of this is that one cannot conceive of 'good' if we do not understand 'evil'.〔Lacey, N 2000, Narrative and Genre, p. 65, Palgrave, New York〕 Typically, one of the two opposites assumes a role of dominance over the other. The categorization of binary oppositions is "often value-laden and ethnocentric", with an illusory order and superficial meaning. Furthermore, Pieter Fourie discovers that binary oppositions have a deeper or second level of binaries that help to reinforce meaning. As an example, the concepts ''hero'' and ''villain'' involve secondary binaries: good/bad, handsome/ugly, liked/disliked, and so on. ==Theory of binaries in Western thought== A classic example of a binary opposition is the presence-absence dichotomy. In much of Western thought, including structuralism, distinguishing between presence and absence, viewed as polar opposites, is a fundamental element of thought in many cultures. In addition, according to post-structuralist criticisms, ''presence'' occupies a position of dominance in Western thought over ''absence'', because ''absence'' is traditionally seen as what you get when you take away ''presence''. (Had ''absence'' been dominant, ''presence'' might have most naturally been seen as what you get when you take away an ''absence''.) 〔Britannica 2011, Binary opposition, viewed 9 March 2011, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/65552/binary-opposition〕 According to Nasser Maleki, there is another example of this phenomenon whereby people value one part of a binary opposition over another; “we, as living in a certain culture, think and act similarly in situations when we want to pick out one of the concepts in the binary oppositions or while seeking truth or a center. For example, we give superiority to life rather than death.” This suggests that the cultural setting a reader is a part of may influence their interpretation of a work of literature; “only one concept, from the binary opposition, is ready, in our mind, to be privileged and the other one is usually put aside as having the second priority.” He reached this conclusion by giving a name to the shared western unconsciousness for a preferred binary concept- logocentrism. This is the belief that “an ultimate reality or centre of truth exists and that can serve as the basis for all our thought and actions. This might imply that readers might unconsciously take side with one concept of binary opposition, and Derrida traces this reaction as a cultural phenomenon.” According to Jacques Derrida, meaning in the West is defined in terms of binary oppositions, “a violent hierarchy” where “one of the two terms governs the other.” Within the white/ black binary opposition in the United States, the African American is defined as a devalued other. An example of a binary opposition is the male-female dichotomy. A post-structuralist view is that ''male'' can be seen, according to traditional Western thought, as dominant over ''female'' because ''male'' is the presence of a phallus, while the vagina is an absence or loss. John Searle has suggested that the concept of binary oppositions—as taught and practiced by postmodernists and poststructuralist—is specious and lacking in rigor.〔In (1983 ), American philosopher John Searle reviewed Johnathan Culler's ''On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism after Structuralism'' for the New York Review of Books, writing, :"In Culler's book, we get the following examples of knowledge and mastery (from analysis of binary opposites and deconstruction ): speech is a form of writing (passim), presence is a certain type of absence (p. 106), the marginal is in fact central (p. 140), the literal is metaphorical (p. 148), truth is a kind of fiction (p. 181), reading is a form of misreading (p. 176), understanding is a form of misunderstanding (p. 176), sanity is a kind of neurosis (p. 160), and man is a form of woman (p. 171). Some readers may feel that such a list generates not so much feelings of mastery as of monotony. There is in deconstructive writing a constant straining of the prose to attain something that sounds profound by giving it the air of a paradox, e.g., "truths are fictions whose fictionality has been forgotten" (p. 181).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「binary opposition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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